(FILES) Airbus employees stand in front of the MetOp-SG A (L) and MetOp-SG B (R) MetOp-SG (Meteorological Operational Satellite - Second Generation) meteorological satellites in the clean room of the company's defense and space branch on November 10, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France. Airbus announced in mid-October the elimination of 2,500 jobs in its "defense and space" branch, which employs around 35,000 people.Technicians in lab coats and hairnets are busy in the Airbus "clean room" in Toulouse, where a large geostationary Thuraya 4 satellite is being assembled for an Emirati operator that will provide satellite television in Africa and the Middle East. This operation of putting large satellites into geostationary orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, which has structured the European industry for decades, has been shaken up after the arrival of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which launches constellations of satellites into low orbit at low cost. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)